Would-be upgraders thwarted by iPhone 4 preorder problems

Throngs of geeks, gadget lovers, and iPhone fanatics have spent much of the day frustrated by unknown technology problems that prevented them from preordering the iPhone 4 for June 24 delivery. Apple and AT&T began offering preorders for the iPhone 4 early this morning, though software glitches in AT&T's customer database brought the whole enterprise to a screeching halt for several hours.

The tubes of the Internet began reverberating with complaints early this morning, as both Apple's and AT&T's websites began to report errors and time-outs as what we are told was an unprecedented number of people attempted to place preorders. Several readers (and I) had better luck using Apple's system to reserve an iPhone 4 to pick up at an Apple Store retail location instead. That system also became overloaded, as it still required hooking in to AT&T's system to verify customer details.

We were then told that Apple's new Apple Store iPhone app could be used to place a reservation, bypassing AT&T's system altogether. However, as of 4:00pm CDT, we are getting scattered reports that reservations through the iPhone app are also being rejected.

According to an unnamed source speaking to Gizmodo, the problems stem from an update to AT&T's customer database systems over the weekend. The source claims that the update was untested and began giving users logging in to their customer accounts access to other AT&T customers' account information. As a result, AT&T was reportedly forced to shut down the customer database, which in turned caused the problems with preorders from both Apple and AT&T. If true, this would mark AT&T's second embarrassing breach of customer data in recent days.

Checking in with a local AT&T retail store here in Chicago, we were told that reservations could be made in-store for June 24 delivery or June 25 in-store pickup. A reader in a smaller Midwestern city told Ars that the situation was more problematic—the AT&T store wouldn't promise any preorders by early afternoon. Though AT&T has reportedly gotten its systems back online, only one person in the Orbiting HQ has been able to successfully complete an iPhone 4 preorder (he noted that his $18 upgrade fee was waived; AT&T has yet to confirm whether the fee will be waived across the board or just offered on a case-by-case basis). We are hearing scattered reports that reservations for local Apple Stores are still hit or miss.

There are still nine days left before the iPhone 4 launches for those that are hoping to pick one up on launch day; it's all but certain that AT&T and Apple will be able to sort out the mess before then. Best Buy and Radio Shack stores were also accepting reservations for limited launch-day stock, though we know for sure that Radio Shack has stopped accepting requests this afternoon due to "overwhelming customer response."

Today's episode is another black eye for the Apple and AT&T relationship. Hopefully for those preordering today, AT&T's infrastructure will be able to handle the swarm of activations coming in nine days.

UPDATE: Boy Genius Report said several sources are claiming that AT&T has sold out of its launch day allotment of iPhones. Those who placed an order with AT&T after about 3:30pm CDT might not get one until sometime between June 25th and July 5th.

Also, MacRumors reports that Apple Stores in the UK and T-mobile in Germany may also have all of the respective launch day stock spoken for.